May 31, 2015

Pretty much same as last month. I nurse mornings and nights
and Matthias gives him a 6oz bottle of pumped breastmilk before his nap. We
tried to slowly wean him off the breastmilk for his lunchtime bottle and have
been mixing it with organic whole milk.

Eating is still a struggle and this boy is as picky as they
come. Foods he liked last month, he doesn’t like anymore, but he’s still all
about that bread. Hopefully it will get better soon.

Teething:He got one more tooth this month, one of the bottom ones. We
had three restless nights (the first ones since January) and then he was back
to normal. So we have a total of seven teeth now.

Sleeping:Same as last month: One nap a day, which usually lasts 2-3
hours. He wakes up between 6 and 6:30am and goes to bed at 7pm. He still sleeps
through the night without issues, but like I said, due to teething, we had
three rough nights.

Diapers:Size 4

Clothing:Mostly 12 month clothing and some 9 month pants.

Social:

He has learned so much this month. He now understand basic
phrases, like “Where’s Cosie” (he will run to the patio door where Cosie waits
to be let in), “Where’s Baby Fox” (he runs to the big “1” collage with his
pictures and points), “Sit down please” (I say it in german and he sits), sharing,
kissing, high fives and he learned to clap this month!

Words:Dog, Car, More, Ball, Danke (the german word for Thank you)

Likes:Music and dancing, being outside, other babies and children,
sleeping on his side and stomach, Cosie, bath time (only when we allow him to
stand up in the bath tub), having his mommies attention, watching videos of himself,
baby puffs, hummus, smoothies, yoghurt melts and any kind of carbs, cell phones
and remotes, walking, playing peek-a-boo, Roomba (vacuum robot), his stuffed
animal Cat in the Hat, shaking his head (like he’s saying “no, no, no”),
opening cabinets and drawers, looking at pictures of Katie, me and himself on
our picture wall, swinging and going to the playground, toy lawn mower, riding
and sitting in his cozy coupe, being independent, running naked like a wild
child in his room after his bath, splash pads, steps, drinking out of a straw,
the Children’s Museum (we just got a membership), The very hungry caterpillar
book, playing hide and seek under our kitchen table

Dislikes:

The Sun (he sneezes and it makes him mad when it shines in
his face), when we take something away from him, changing his diaper or getting
dressed (basically anything where he is restrained), car rides (we got him a
bigger car seat because he had outgrown his baby one and I thought it would
make it easier, but he still hates driving), food of any kind

Fun things we did:Fox has a jam packed schedule these days! Mondays, he and
Matthias go to the Library, Tuesday to the Arizona Doll House, Wednesdays was
Gymnastics (they just went on Summer break though), Thursdays is Baby Dance and
they just started to go to the Museum every Friday.

We also had a bunch of playdates in the afternoons after I
get off work with his friends and a lot of 1st Birthday parties! We
went to the Zoo twice (it’s getting too hot now), had a few photo shoots with
our photographer and ended his 12th month with the celebration of
his 1st birthday! We had so much fun at his party!

Milestones:

He really took off running this month and is walking so well
now. He loves to walk all over the house, but unfortunately, he still falls a
lot and he’s getting a lot of bruises these days.

He learned how to clap and some basic commands. He also
spoke his first german word this month (Danke – Thank you).

May 29, 2015

I can't believe Fox's First Birthday Party is over. I anticipated this party for such a long time and literally started planning it back in February, so it's just crazy to me, that in a blink of an eye, it has passed. Just like the last year.

I always read on other blogs that people regretted spending this much time and/or money on their baby's first birthday party, but I knew we were going to go all out and honestly, I'm so glad we did. I had so much fun planning, preparing and crafting for this party!

So, take a seat and grab a drink, because this is going to be a long one!

Our Party Theme was Dr. Seuss!

This was his Birthday Invitation, I just deleted our address and phone numbers. :)

FRONT

BACK

Sign in front of our house

Welcome Wreath

Our Entry Way

Party Favors - small Dr. Seuss Books

Our Guestbook! It was so special to read all of the sweet messages for Fox after the party!

Here comes the Party Boy or should I say the Cat in the Hat?

He had just woken up from his nap and woke up to a house full of people, therefore he was very hesitant and shy at first, but warmed up quickly once he saw all of his friends!

Some of our guests came dressed up, which we absolutely loved! So fun!

So you might remember the awesome cakes my mother in law made for our baby shower and Fox's cake smash session, but nothing could've prepared me for this! I knew she had mad skills, but dang…this was the most beautiful cake I have ever seen. I really don't know why she doesn't do this for a living! The cakes not only looked good, they also tasted delicious!

We mostly served "themed" food, which seemed to be a big hit, because there wasn't much left after the party!

Most of these pictures were taken by our awesome photographer. Honestly, having her there was the best investment we could've ever made, because who has time to snap their own pictures during the party? I really loved not having to worry about it, because usually I'm the one behind the lens and it was much more affordable than I would've ever thought.

Fox and his buddy Braxdon

Fox's Smash Cake

Lorax Mustache Straws

Seeing my weekly photo project all together on this wall was amazing.

Cheese Trees

Of course, we couldn't have a Dr. Seuss Party without Green Eggs and Ham!

"Roast Beast" Sandwiches

Sharon and Jim (with Hunter) flew in especially for the Party from North Carolina! They are Patrick's (Katie's mom's boyfriend) parents (and Hunter is his son).

Aunt Ashlie came as Horton

His Monthly Photo Project!

Great Grandma Michelle and Great Grandpa Wes came all the way from Sacramento to celebrate our big guy!

I think the blue hair suits him well.

Grandma Sandie (the amazing baker) and Grandpa Steve

4 Generations of people I love!

Fox with our au pair, Matthias!

This is a picture of my mom on Skype, she was there during the entire party and we all took turns, "walking" her around and showing her what was going on. She was also there (via Skype) during our Baby Shower and loved it!

Days like these make me very sad for her, being so far away from her only Grandson. The last time she saw him was when he was one week old and here he is, a year old already. Thank God for Skype, but it makes me very sad nonetheless.

Brad came as the Lorax!

This is almost everybody, we had six people come a little late, after we had already taken the group shot! Unfortunately, we had a lot of people cancel last minute, because of sickness or family emergencies, etc., but we were so glad for everyone who was able to celebrate Fox's first year with us!

Getting ready for the Cake Smash!

Singing Happy Birthday

He's like: I don't know what's going on here, but if you guys think I'm going to make a fool out of myself by smearing cake all over my face, then you're wrong!

He wasn't even going to try it.

Yep, not having it!

This kid doesn't like to get dirty, so we got a spoon to see if he would try a bite from there.

Nope!

He was sharing though!

Grandma Rene' showing him his german grandma on Skype

After a few minutes, we called it quits, this boy was just not having it.

Some Sibling Shots

Here is our pathetic attempt to get all of the babies together for a group shot. Oh how times have changed! 6 months ago we could just plop them somewhere, make a lot of noise and hope that someone will look at the camera, but nowadays they are all running away from us!

A few moms from our mom's group!

I took this picture after the party, after everyone had left, my loves were tired!

It was such a fun celebration and even though I still can't believe that we have a 1 year old, I'm excited for what's to come!

I'm off to recover from all the party prep now, because before I know it, it will be time to start planning his second birthday!